CALGARY – As the University of Calgary Dinos women's rugby team heads into their final weekend of regular season action, the goal is simple: to win both of their weekend matches and secure their third-straight undefeated regular season campaign.

Although the Dinos will host the Canada West championships in 10 days, on Oct 20 and 22, there is still lots of work to be done before the playoffs. Specifically, the Dinos must take care of business against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, and the University of Victoria Vikes.

As head coach Simon Chi remarks, "The upcoming games in BC are massive for us – there are no easy games in the Canada West Conference. Every team is still very much alive and there are multiple scenarios that could occur over the final weekend where we could finish as high as the 1st seed or fall to the 3rd seed so it is difficult to predict what the matchups will be at this time."

This weekend is truly crucial, as the Dinos will play the two teams above, and below them in the standings. The Victoria Vikes sit in first place with 15 points (in three games played), while the Dinos trail behind with 10 points (in two games played). UBC has 6 points (in three games played). A team receives four points for a win, two points for a tie, one point for a loss by seven pts or less, and one bonus point for scoring four or more tries. So, a win against the Vikes and T-Birds would clinch first place for the Dinos, while a loss to the Vikes, and a seven plus point loss to UBC, where UBC scores four plus tries, would clinch third place for the Dinos.

As coach Chi notes, the team must simply focus on preparing for the weekend's matches. "At this point we are just focusing on what we can control and right now we are getting ready for 2 tough games against UBC and the University of Victoria."

With regards to the actual match-ups, coach Chi explains, "BC is always a tough, physical match and you will be hard-pressed to find a more potent attack in the country than UVic's. [UVic] run similar systems in attack so we will have to be very sharp defensively while also executing our game plan.

Since the Lethbridge Pronghorns will be hosting this year's national championship, only one other team from the Canada West conference will be making the trip to nationals. This means the team that wishes to advance to the national tournament will need to win the Canada West championship. As a result, these two matches are especially important for the Dinos from both a seeding and preparation standpoint.

The west coast trip kicks off on Friday with a 5:00 p.m. MT match against the Thunderbirds, and concludes on Sunday with a 12:30 p.m. MT match against the Vikes.

HEADLINES

• Dinos vs Vikes will be a rematch of the 2016 Canada West championship where the Dinos edged the Vikes 29-14 for their first-ever Canada West title.
• The match-up between the Dinos and Vikes will likely decide who takes first place in the conference and the number one seed at the Canada West championships.
• The Thunderbirds have only been victorious against the Dinos in one of their last five matches (in 2014-2015).

CALGARY DINOS (2-0)
Last week: won 34-26 vs Alberta
Next week: Canada West championships @ Calgary

• Head into BC this weekend with a 2-0 record.
• Opened the season with a dominant 42-15 victory against the Lethbridge Pronghorns, backstopped by reigning USPORTS Player of the Year DaLeaka Menin's five try performance.
• In their most recent match, dueled with the University of Alberta Pandas in a back-and-forth affair. After trailing 14-12 at halftime, the Dinos outscored the Pandas 22-12 to secure their second victory of the season.

VICTORIA VIKES (3-0)
Last week: won 59-20 vs Lethbridge
Next week: Canada West championships @ Calgary

• Heading into their final regular season game, the Vikes have outscored their opponents by a staggering margin: 223-20.
• Third-year center Madison Aberg leads the conference in tries, having scored ten tries in three matches.
• Fourth-year flyhalf Kara Galbraith is has scored five tries in three matches, sitting behind Dinos star DaLeaka Menin for third in the conference in tries.
• After hosting the 2016-2017 national tournament, and qualifying for the 2015-2016 tournament as the Canada West champions, the Vikes will look for their third straight appearance at the national championships.

UBC THUNDERBIRDS (1-2)
Last week: lost 34-22 vs Lethbridge
Next week: Canada West championships @ Calgary

• Despite last week's loss, the Thunderbirds have secured their place in the Canada West championships with six points.
• Shoshanah Seumanutafa leads the way offensively for the Thunderbirds with three tries in three matches.